Chapter 8

A small contingent of Jaffa escorted Jack aboard a Tel'tak. He was unbound and thought seriously of the possibility of taking the four Jaffa when he was flung unceremoniously into the rear section and the door closed.

After about twenty minutes or so O'Neill could feel the Tel'tak hovering. The door slid open and he was goaded to the entrance with a charged staff weapon.

"You are the servant of the god Sop'du. You will never return to your home world. You will live and die here as his loyal slave in that pitiful village."

Before he could reply he was encouraged out with the glowing tip of the staff weapon and tumbled onto a sparsely wooded hillside.

Out of the open door one of the Jaffa shouted "The Jaffa traveling with you, Obi Wan, said your people were weak and would not survive without provisions. The Lord Sop'du wishes his slaves to live long so that they may serve him."

With that the Jaffa tossed Jack's backpack out the door. The Jaffa pointed with his staff weapon straight ahead down the hill. The door closed and the Tel'tak flew off. Jack tried to gauge which direction it flew but in fact he had no idea if they were returning to the pyramid, or the Stargate or elsewhere.

As Jack stood there he thought What's with getting stranded? Edora, the Ice Planet and now here? He hoped here he wouldn't be alone. And yeah, he wished they had escaped but he really didn't want to be alone, alone and an outcast.

Jack remembered Khon'du's words - what they would do to Carter, used by the Jaffa and sold to a pig farmer. It didn't look like farm country. It seemed too dry for most anything. The village looked virtually lifeless. He doubted he'd be welcome, just "another hungry mouth to feed". Jack wondered if she had been hurt or was still in danger or abused. He'd check out this village and then set out to find Carter and Daniel.

He stowed the tags in the backpack and put it on. Then he took his bearings and walked down the hill.

Obi Wan? It sounded so familiar but he couldn't place it. They couldn't mean Teal'c, could they? And then it clicked and he laughed.

Half way down the hill, about a click or a click and a half away, Jack could better see the village. A main compound of mud brick and the rest probably daub and wattle. All of this was surrounded by parched fields and some empty animal pens.

As he got closer he noticed there was a woman coming out of one of the huts.


Two Weeks Earlier

"They will be washed of the stench of the prison. They are so filthy they would not be acceptable to the village that they are assigned to. Make them presentable." This was the order given to the Jaffa in charge of the prisoners.

"Yes, Lord Sop'du is a beneficent god. He sees to the welfare of his slaves." This is what Daniel and Carter heard as they were escorted from the cell. They both had hopes of seeing O'Neill at their destination and Teal'c as well. They were marched past the Jaffa's exercise field through the outskirts of a dusty village to a grassy area with a shallow pool.

There were two women sitting by the stream flowing from the pool who saw to the menial tasks of the Jaffa.

Daniel, when ordered to strip, said "There are women here."

One of the women rolled her eyes, the other laughed.

He did as told and given a cloth and soap, washed and dressed in the clean clothing provided.

Sam was next. She was delighted to wash and balked when told to leave behind her dog tags. Then when Sam realized they weren't returning back to the cell, back to O'Neill, she fought back. It was futile. The last time he saw her she was filthy, her uniform disheveled and her hair in greasy tangles. Would they see him where they were taking her? Would they ever see him again?

The next stop was back through the village to the few pitiful vehicles that comprised Sop'du's fleet. They boarded a Tel'tak and were flown to a small village. One of the Jaffa told the headman that these two were a gift of their god and left.

The head man looked them over, snorted in annoyance.

"I do not need two more mouths to feed. We have no water for our crop. We have a well that gives us more sand than water for our children to drink. Does the great god Sop'du wish you to die slowly with us? What have you done that he hates you by sending you here?"

Sam and Daniel had no reply but Daniel, ever the communicator, asked "What can we do to help you?"

"Can you turn sand into water?" the head man said and turned around and walked back toward his house.

"Do you remember what Jack was talking about?" Daniel whispered to Sam.

"You mean the temple construction and the drought?"

"I have an idea."

"Sir" Daniel called out to the retreating back of the village leader. "We have been sent here from the great god Sop'du, so that you might receive your share of the bounty of the life giving waters of the great river."

This put a halt to the village leader's steps. He turned, not quite trusting what he heard but he was desperate, "What must we do?".

As Daniel started to speak, the headman, Tab'ba, said "Come" directing him toward the mud brick house. When Sam started to walk with Daniel, Tab'ba glared at her. "Tell your woman to go to that hut." pointing to a shabby small daub and wattle hut.

"She is my sister…"

"I will find her a husband" then taking a good look at Sam said "or take her into my household."

"Her husband is still conferring with the great god Sop'du."

"And Pharaoh sent her away without him?" Then Tab'ba muttered "Not all who are brought before the great god return."